Yesterday, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) stated that there had been no data breach in its National Identity Numbers (NIN) capturing process by any of its vendors or outlets.
The commission said reports of an alleged breach of citizens’ data by a private organisation, XpressVerify, had nothing to do with it.
A statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Kayode Adegoke, said: “The commission wishes to state that it offers NIN verification and other services through licensed partners. However, XpressVerify is not one of the commission’s licensed partners.
“We express our gratitude to our media partners and the whistleblowers for bringing this to our attention and wish to assure Nigerians and legal residents that there is no data breach of any sort and the citizens’ data is safe and secure in the Nigeria’s national identity database.
“The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, has promptly ordered a comprehensive investigation into the matter to find out if any of the commission’s tokenisation verification agents has in any way breached the licensing agreement either directly or through any of their sub-licensees.”
Coker-Odusote reassured Nigerians of NIMC’s dedication to safeguarding data protection and privacy. She pledged that every effort would be made to guarantee the safety and security of the information of all enrollees.
“Top-level security is in place to protect the NIN and other personal data of every citizen and legal residents,” she said.
The NIMC chief executive reaffirmed the unwavering dedication of the agency to safeguarding, securing, and responsibly managing the data entrusted to it.
